This is a blog for the staff of "Notes from the Windowsill," to talk about children's books and what we're reading.

Friday, January 19, 2007

thoughts on (my) reviewing

I've noticed this before, but writing the review of The Rules of Survival really brought it home: my style of reviewing causes me to leave a lot of stuff out. I'm honestly not sure if this is a bad thing or a good thing, or maybe it's a mixed thing.

For example: I thought the depictions of adults in the book were very interesting, especially the conversations between the kids and adults. But my review wasn't about that and I didn't want to go off on a tangent, so I didn't talk about it. There were also aspects of the book I didn't think worked as well--which also seemed kind of irrelevent. The book made me feel something, very strongly, and that's what I wanted to capture, as best I could.

I don't usually enjoy very detailed reviews that comment on every aspect of a book, so I guess it makes sense that I don't write them. My initial inspiration for reviewing children's books was not in fact a "review," but a jacket flap, the flap for the original hardcover edition of The Bear's House by Marilyn Sachs. It was so evocative and compassionate... it highlighted the sadness and the mystery that were to be found inside. You can tell it was written by someone who thoroughly loved and understood the book.

1Bligs:

Makes sense to me, writing the sorts of reviews that you like to read. The reason I try very hard not to put spoilers in my reviews, even things that lots of other people have already revealed, is that I hate reading spoilers in reviews. So, your method makes sense to me! But I agree that it would work for book jackets, too.